Castle Moat
by MissBellFlower
Summary: Honebami regains a memory of the time he ended up in a moat with Yagen and learns something about him.


So, one story about Honebami Toushirou (and a theory for Yagen Toushirou) is that its owner at the time took the sword to his final battle at the Siege of Osaka, where he died. The sword was lost, but then it was found in a moat along with Yagen Toushirou. The Siege of Osaka happened in 1615 and the Honnou-ji Incident happened in 1598, meaning that Yagen Toushirou had to have not been destroyed in the Incident. Of course, there is a good chance that the writer for the document stating that finding might have just mistaken Honebami Toushirou for Yagen Toushirou (So the whereabouts of the tantou is still unknown).

...And that was how this was born.

* * *

Before he opened his eyes, the first things Honebami noticed were a lingering smell that he couldn't quite pinpoint and silence. Opening his eyes, he was looking up at the sky. Apparently he was lying on the ground outside somewhere. Weird. The last thing he remembered was going in for repairs.

Getting up, he got a better look at his surroundings. Wherever he was, it was definitely not the citadel. From what he could tell from the area, it was from a different time—definitely after some major event. Maybe the Sengoku period? It was hard to tell. Anything before _that_ incident was a blur for him.

It didn't seem like he had any control over what he was doing and was just viewing this through…well, his own eyes. Was this a memory? But from when? And about what? Looking down at himself, Honebami felt that he was taller and his clothes were definitely from a different time period.

"Huh, so I guess I ended up here." It was weird to hear his own voice from the past. It still sounded like him, yet it was so different.

"Since I'm here, it shouldn't be too far away." He was talking about his own sword. He began to slowly walk around. Honebami now noticed that he was in a moat. It wasn't long before he saw his sword just out of sight, but apparently he wasn't the only sword there.

"Yagen!" He quickened his pace. His brother was sitting with his legs drawn up to his chest. At the sound of his name, he looked up and gave a half-hearted wave.

"Yo, Honebami. You're here, too?"

Honebami sat down next to Yagen. "Yeah, but if you're here, that means you survived the incident at Honnou-ji." Honnou-ji? This was definitely the Sengoku period—probably the closing of it.

"…How much do you know about that?" Yagen's voice was calm, but there was definitely a defensive edge to it.

"Sorry if I disappoint, but I only know the basics about it. I only heard about you being there from the humans in passing. I also heard that you were treasured by your master, so I'm surprised that you're even here."

"I was. In fact, I was so valuable that I was one of things that were salvaged." Judging by the way he talked, it seemed that Yagen hadn't recovered from the incident at the time this happened. In the present, Honebami could empathize with that. When he lost his memories, it took him years to come to terms with that lost.

His past self was about to say something, but he then noticed the burn scars on Yagen's hands. They weren't fresh, but they also weren't as faded as they are in the present. Yagen didn't escape Honnou-ji without damage. He reached for his hand and his fingers barely touched him before Yagen quickly jerked his hand away. The look he gave Honebami was tense. Relaxing a bit, Yagen went back to hugging his knees.

"Do they hurt?" It was a silly question, and Honebami was sure that his past self knew that as well. As _tsukumogami_ , they did not experience things the same way humans did. Injuries were one of those "there-but-not-there" things for them—especially back when they did not have a physical form.

"Not as much as they used to."

"That's good. It means that they're healing."

"It was terrifying, you know. At Honnou-ji, I accepted that I was most likely going to die there. But even as I stayed by my master's side, it didn't make me any less scared as I watched the fire grow. And then it reached me, and…" Yagen's voice was starting to shake. Honebami was silent as he waited for him to calm down. "I thought that was the end, but then I woke up in a different place and I had some gaps in my memory."

Honebami was surprised by this. He knew that Yagen was a little aloof, but he never would have guessed the reason for that distance.

"After that, I was fine for a while. I felt a little lost, sure, but I didn't let it affect me too much. Then I ended up here in Osaka and just seeing those flames just brought back the memories of Honnou-ji." He was losing his calm again.

Honebami scooted closer to his brother and patted his head, keeping his hand there. Yagen flinched a little. "Well, no matter what happened in the past, there's still a future for you, isn't there? It just meant that it wasn't your time to go. I'm sure there are still things to look forward to."

Yagen suddenly lowered his head and covered his mouth. Some built-up tears fell, but he actually wasn't crying—he was trying to suppress a laugh.

That meant that what his past self said was good, right?

"Yeah, I guess that's one way of looking at it." A smile started to form. His words were able to cheer up the smaller sword, if only a bit. "You're weird." Yagen added and lay down.

"Oi!" But Honebami joined him. The sky looked so far away.

"Shouldn't you be more worried about Namazuo?"

"Of course I'm worried about Namazuo. But for right now, it's just you and me here."

"Yeah…"

Yagen's hand found its way into Honebami's. Honebami clasped the smaller hand and closed his eyes.

* * *

Honebami woke up to the sight of a ceiling in a dark room. What time was it? He must have fallen asleep while he was being repaired. He probably even missed dinner. One of the repair fairies went to fetch his mended clothes (nobody knows how the wear and tear disappeared from their clothes or how their clothes even got off of their bodies in the first place since they revert back to being a sword until repairs are done, but everyone in the citadel just unanimously agreed to never question it).

As he got dressed, Honebami was mulling over that memory. It was an odd memory to resurface, but he's happy for it all the same. It was a small step into finding out who he once was (even if he did think he sounded a little dorky).

Thinking back on Yagen's words, he realized that that memory took place during the Siege of Osaka. He felt bad for not noticing the surroundings sooner, considering how much of an impact it had on Namazuo.

But even besides that, that moment revealed a lot about Yagen to him, which was a little puzzling for him. They weren't particularly close to each other, even though they are bothers. Even a memory involving Mikazuki would have made more sense. When Honebami "met" Mikazuki, the tachi was so happy to see him and apparently the two of them were very close to each other in the past.

Whether that memory was randomly picked to surface or something was nudging him in some direction, Honebami did not know.

Making his way out of the infirmary, he noticed there was a light coming out of the office. He already knew who was in there, but he decided to go in anyway.

Sure enough, sitting at a desk was Yagen with a stack of paperwork. Interestingly, he wasn't wearing his gloves and some of his fingers had band-aids on them.

"Oh hey, Honebami. I was wondering where you were." Yagen then noticed that Honebami was staring at his hands. "Oh, the band-aids? Don't worry about them. I was helping out in the kitchen earlier and instead of cutting the vegetables I ended up accidentally cutting my fingers."

"…Do they hurt?" Honebami doesn't know where that question even came from. Yagen knew he wasn't talking about cuts.

"Oh, uh, no. They haven't in a while."

"I see." Honebami closed the door and took a seat next to Yagen.

"Hm? Do you need anything?" Honebami had the sudden compulsion to pet Yagen, so he did. "Um…what are doing…?" The tantou was more confused by the action than anything else.

The wakizashi shrugged. "I don't know. I just suddenly felt like it."

Something must have clicked for Yagen because he suddenly starting to chuckle. "Maybe you were resting for a little too long. Anyway, shouldn't you be checking in with the saniwa? You've been in here for a couple of hours."

"I will, but if it's not a problem, I would like to stay in here for a little bit."

"Yeah, of course you can. You can help me with the paperwork."


End file.
